Annual Strategic Plan 2020

Founded in 2011, Wikimedia Canada is an independent nonprofit organization based in Montreal, Quebec and an official chapter of the Wikimedia Foundation and part of the global Wikimedia Movement. We support and promote the distribution of free educational material within Canada, mainly through the Wikimedia projects. Wikimedia Canada engages in a range of activities in support of the vision of the Wikimedia movement such as outreach activities, community-building events, content-creation projects, partnerships with cultural and knowledge institutions, collaborations with Aboriginal communities, training sessions, etc. Since 2016, Wikimedia Canada began a process to bring the chapter to a more mature level by developing and putting into place necessary policies and generally improving its corporate standards.

Wikimedia Canada shares the vision statement of the Wikimedia Foundation: “Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. That's our commitment.”[1]

Priorities

The main goal of Wikimedia Canada is to diversify, augment and improve the content about Canada on Wikimedia projects and to increase the contribution of Canadians in Wikimedia projects.

To achieve this goal, Wikimedia Canada has identified four priorities for its five years strategic plan 2017-2021:

For 2020, Wikimedia Canada is continuing towards the same main axes as of 2019, but intends to focus more on specific areas of knowledge, including Canadian history and geography, indigenous cultures and languages, health sciences, and biographies of women. Furthermore we will continue to develop the contributors communities in Canada, mainly through WikiClubs. While indigenous cultures are an integral part of the Canadian culture, we include them in a separate program since we place a special focus on this knowledge that is really lacking on Wikimedia projects and because the projects with indigenous communities require a different approach than the more generic projects.

Also, from 2019 to 2021, Wikimedia Canada is conducting a large-scale project named "Weather Observations of the Meteorological Service of Canada in Wikimedia Projects". The aim of the project is to prove with a practical example that it would be interesting for Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) to push their various data to the Wikimedia projects. This will be done by transferring observations from Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) weather stations to various Wikimedia projects. In 2020, the project will import data from the MSC to Wikimedia Commons, link Wikidata pages in Wikimedia Commons and implement the categorization of pages containing data in JSON. The following phase will include to reuse the data from Wikimedia Commons in Wikipedia templates. This project is financed by an external project grant. Details on this grant will be available publicly at a later date, since we are still under a non disclosure agreement for the moment.

Program 1: Content development

Program 2: Communities development

Program 3: Indigenous peoples on Wikimedia projects

Content development

Increase access to quality free knowledge, especially about Canadian cultures, languages, history, geography, sports and other fields of knowledge.

Signature of a Memorandum of Understanding between Wikimedia Canada and Library and Archives Canada

Mardi c'est Wiki at BAnQ during the International Francophone Contribution Month about women in science

A Wiki workshop at the Cinémathèque québécoise

This program aims at increasing the quantity and the quality of free content, especially about Canada on Wikimedia projects. It includes two axes that are complementary: hosting contribution workshops and developing partnerships with GLAMUs. In 2020, we will place a special focus on content that is directly about Canadian topics as well as specific topics identified by our members.

Program Objectives

Augment the quantity, improve the quality and diversify free knowledge about Canada and other identified topics, especially on Wikimedia projects.

Make existing public domain content held by Canadian institutions more freely and broadly available through the Wikimedia projects.

Increase the awareness and understanding of the Canadian public and GLAMUs about open knowledge, free licences and Wikimedia projects.

Hosting contribution workshops

Several Canadian institutions are hosting regular monthly contribution workshops called WikiTuesdays or WikiThursdays.

Wikimedia Canada will support volunteers and institutions in hosting contribution workshops to increase access to free knowledge. Contribution workshops can take many forms, including edit-a-thons, scan-a-thons, training sessions and photo scavenger hunts. The goal is to motivate contributors to create and improve content on Wikimedia projects and to give them the knowledge and the support they need to contribute. Other than the content about Canada, our members have identified specific areas of interest where there are knowledge gaps on Wikimedia projects on which we will focus our efforts in 2020: health sciences and biographies of women. We also aim at continuing our efforts to expand Wikimedia Canada's activities across all of Canada.

Why are we doing this?

There are certain knowledge gaps on Wikimedia projects about certain fields of knowledge of Canada, such as cultures, languages, history, geography and sports. Through the organization of contribution workshops and editing campaigns, we will develop and improve content on Wikimedia projects about those topics. Our members also identified specific topics in which they can contribute that are lacking quality information on Wikimedia projects, such as health sciences. Through partnerships with universities, we will encourage students and professors with relevant expertise and interest to contribute to Wikimedia projects about those topics. We will continue to organize the #1lib1ref campaign in Canada by putting in place a friendly competition to add references between different Canadian institutions, since we found this is an ideal way to engage those institutions while improving the Wikimedia projects.

Organize and participate in large-scale editing campaigns, including the National Contribution Month in Canada, the International Francophone Contribution Month, #1lib1ref and Art+Feminism.

Developing partnerships with GLAMUs

BAnQ is the main partner of WMCA. They organize several contribution events throughout the year, and they donate an office space for the chapter in the Gilles-Hocquart-Building (above).

Wikimedia Canada will increase its number of partnerships with Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums and Universities (GLAMUs) in Canada. The intent is two folds: making their content more freely and broadly available through the Wikimedia projects, and encourage and support institutions to include the Wikimedia projects as part of their regular work. In 2019, Wikimedia Canada signed an overarching agreement with Library and Archives Canada (LAC), the federal government institution responsible for acquiring, preserving and making Canada’s documentary heritage accessible. In 2020, we specifically aims at increasing our activities with our existing partners, including Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) (National Library and Archives of Quebec) and Library and Archives Canada (LAC), as well as conducting targeted outreach to new potential partners.

Why are we doing this?

The Canadian GLAMUs possess content and expertise that are of interest for the readers of Wikimedia projects and the public in general. However a lot of this content is not under a free licence and is not easily and broadly available online. Through education and outreach, we want to encourage those institutions to use Wikimedia projects to disseminate their knowledge and content in order to make them more broadly available to everyone.

Planned activities

Conduct outreach to GLAMUs in order to increase their understanding of Wikimedia projects and open knowledge with the goal of establishing content partnerships.

Participate in a Canadian GLAM Summit organized by Library and Archives Canada (LAC) to promote the Wikimedia projects to the GLAM sector in Canada.

Weather observations of the Meteorological Service of Canada in Wikimedia projects

From 2019 to 2021, Wikimedia Canada will conduct a project to transfer observations from the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) weather stations to various Wikimedia projects. The aim of this project is to prove with a practical example that it would be interesting for Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) to push their various data to the Wikimedia projects. To conduct this project, Wikimedia Canada is receiving a grant from ECCC and will hire a subcontractor for its execution. More information on this project can be found on Meta-Wiki: [1].

Why are we doing this?

The goal of this project is to increase the access to the meteorological data of the MSC and to increase the knowledge about Canada on the Wikimedia projects. Including the data on Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata will facilitate the access to it, but also facilitate its manipulation for various research purposes.

Planned activities

Import data from ECCC to Wikimedia Commons.

Link Wikidata pages in Wikimedia Commons.

Implement the categorization of pages containing data in JSON.

Reuse the data from Wikimedia Commons in Wikipedia templates.

Communities development

Increase the number and the diversity of contributors to free knowledge from Canada.

Meetup after a contribution day at Université Laval

Visit of Wikimedia Canada in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean

Conference about Wikimedia projects given at the Musée de la civilisation de Québec thanks to a microgrant

This program aims at developing the contributors communities in Canada. This includes to provide the resources to encourage their growth and support their initiatives, as well as developing their knowledge and skills to allow them to contribute more to the Wikimedia projects. Due to the large size of the Canadian territory, Wikimedia Canada aims at establishing a network of WikiClubs in different cities across the country. Those WikiClubs are local and regional hubs that deliver the programs of the chapter and conduct activities to further the mission of the Wikimedia movement at a local level. In 2020, we will continue to provide microgrants to volunteers in Canada and support local meetups of contributors. We will also support Canadian contributors to take an active role within the larger Wikimedia movement to allow them to share their knowledge with others as well as learning from the international community by participating in relevant international and regional events.

Program Objectives

Empower the contributors communities in Canada with the knowledge, skills and tools required to contribute to Wikimedia projects.

Motivate the Canadian contributors to continue to contribute to Wikimedia projects and organizing local activities.

Diversify the contributors to the Wikimedia projects, with a focus on the gender gap.

Expand the activities of Wikimedia Canada across all of Canada.

Support existing WikiClubs and encourage the creation of new WikiClubs in Canada.

Take an active role within the international Wikimedia movement to share the expertise and knowledge of Canadian volunteers as well as learning from others.

Logistical and administrative support

Wikimedia Canada, through its contractual staff, will support volunteers in Canada by providing them with the logistical and administrative support required for them to more efficiently deliver the programs of the chapter and organize their own activities, while avoiding their exhaustion due to the burden of the workload for coordination, management and administration. The chapter will also support the WikiClubs in acquiring the necessary tools for the execution of their activities furthering the mission of the Wikimedia movement.

Why are we doing this?

In recent years, we have seen a drastic increase in the exhaustion of our volunteers because of the burden put on them in terms of logistics, management and administration. In order to avoid losing them, we plan to provide them professional support from our contractual staff and other volunteers. Furthermore the volunteers need access to certain tools to contribute to the Wikimedia projects, such as scanners for example. Due to the size of the country, it is simply impossible for Wikimedia Canada to hold those resources at a centralized location and give access to them to volunteers across the country. This is one of the reasons why we encourage the creation of WikiClubs that will be able to manage those resources at a local and regional level and provide access to them to the volunteers in their respective regions.

Planned activities

Provide professional logistical, administrative and management support to volunteers

Support the WikiClubs in acquiring the tools they need to conduct their activities.

Microgrants

Wikimedia Canada will support volunteers in Canada to organize their own activities, projects and initiatives contributing in increasing access to quality free knowledge by providing microgrants in order to alleviate the financial burden of organizing such activities. In 2018-2019, Wikimedia Canada gave a total of 55 microgrants to volunteers in Canada.

Why are we doing this?

There are a lot of motivated volunteers in Canada with great ideas willing to organize activities and projects to contribute to increase access to quality free knowledge. The intent of the microgrants is to support them so they don't have to financially provide for these activities themselves, which is an obstacle for them. The financial investment is very low compared to the return we get in terms of content and new contributors. The microgrant program of Wikimedia Canada aims at being very flexible, fast and easy for the volunteers.

Planned activities

Provide microgrants to support volunteers and communities in Canada to organize their own initiatives, such as thematic photographic expeditions, outreach events, purchasing references to improve Wikimedia projects and local meetups.

Active role within the Wikimedia movement

Wikimedia Canada will support its volunteers to take an active role within the international Wikimedia movement. The intent is two folds: sharing our knowledge and expertise with others, and learning from others. In 2020, we plan to support some Canadian volunteers to attend international and regional conferences, including Wikimania, the Francophone WikiConvention and the North American WikiConference.

Why are we doing this?

Some Canadian volunteers possess an expertise and a knowledge that could benefit the international community. While we are already sharing this knowledge online, nothing compares to meet in-person with others. We also want Canadian volunteers to participate in those events to bring back knowledge and lessons learned to the Canadian communities.

Planned activities

Provide financial support to Canadian volunteers to attend international and regional Wikimedia events.

Indigenous peoples on Wikimedia projects

Develop Wikimedia projects in the indigenous languages of Canada and increase quality free knowledge about Canadian First Nations, Inuit and Métis.

This program aims at increasing the quantity and the quality of content on Wikimedia projects in Canadian indigenous languages and about Canadian indigenous peoples by hosting outreach events, training sessions and contribution workshops with indigenous communities in Canada. Wikimedia Canada will coordinate its activities in this program with the Wikimedians of North American Indigenous Languages User Group and Wikimedia Language Diversity. We will also ensure that projects in this program are led by the indigenous communities themselves with our support.

Program Objectives

Augment and improve free knowledge in Canadian indigenous languages, especially on Wikimedia projects.

Increase the awareness and knowledge of indigenous communities about Wikimedia projects, free licences and open knowledge.

Wikimedia projects in indigenous languages

Wikimedia Canada will support the creation, development and growth of Wikimedia projects in indigenous languages. We will do so by empowering the indigenous communities through education and training about Wikimedia projects and free licences. In 2020, we will continue to focus on developing the Wikipetcia Atikamekw Nehiromowin in partnership with the Atikamekw First Nation which will be used as a model to showcase the potential of Wikimedia projects to other indigenous communities. We will also explore the use of Wiktionaries with the Atikamekw First Nation.

Why are we doing this?

The vast majority of the indigenous languages spoken in Canada are in danger of extinction. Wikimedia projects can be a free tool as part of a global approach to revitalize those languages. We need to understand that language's importance to indigenous peoples is immense and bears an important social and cultural aspect. Canadian indigenous languages are also an integral part of the Canadian culture. Through its Aboriginal Communities Outreach Program, Wikimedia Canada will reach indigenous communities and familiarize them with Wikimedia projects and free licences.

Support the growth of the Wikipetcia Atikamekw Nehiromowin by continuing the successful partnership with the Atikamekw First Nation.

Participate in relevant events to promote the Wikimedia projects and free licences.

Free knowledge about Canadian indigenous peoples

Wikimedia Canada will support the development of free knowledge about the Canadian First Nations, Inuit and Métis, mainly by empowering the indigenous communities themselves in developing content about them on Wikimedia projects through education and training sessions.

Why are we doing this?

There is a real knowledge gap about the Canadian indigenous peoples, especially about modern communities. Indeed a lot of the content available on Wikimedia projects about the Canadian indigenous peoples is only archival. Furthermore this content is developed by outsiders. We want to create and improve free content about Canadian First Nations, Inuit and Métis with a focus on empowering the indigenous communities themselves to develop free content about them on Wikimedia projects. We will do so by conducting outreach, education and training to indigenous communities as well as providing the support and resources they need to develop content on Wikimedia projects about their cultures.